That’s the idea behind “The Power to Dream, A Community Conversation” planned for 5 p.m. Monday at Green Valley Spa in St. George in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Host Janice Brooks, a professional speaker, community activist and freelance writer, designed the event as a way to facilitate conversion among community members rather than focusing on the words of a single speaker. She doesn’t want to single anyone out as having a more “enlightened” view than another.

“Everybody is important,” she says. “I wanted it to be very much organic.”

The discussion will touch on three primary themes: sacred activism, social intelligence and spiritual leadership. Brooks says the three themes were inspired by elements of the legendary “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Brooks says the three themes are now manifest in today’s society, and it’s the combination of the three that is truly powerful.

She describes sacred activism as a “passionate call to do something.” It’s when a person feels a sacred calling and has a sense of clear purpose and selfless activism.

Social intelligence, she says, is an “acute awareness.” While some people have a high level of math skills, others might instead have a keen insight to people. It’s a form of intelligence that is people-driven.

Finally, she says spiritual leadership is putting the Golden Rule into action. While it’s spiritually based, there is no religious dogma behind it. It transcends personal religious precepts in doing good deeds, whether it’s feeding the hungry or caring for the sick.

Brooks says social intelligence bridges the gap between sacred activism and spiritual leadership. It uses emotional intelligence to take the calling of the former and implement it into the action of the latter. It was a pattern followed by leaders like King and Nelson Mandela decades ago.

The “I Have a Dream” speech itself contained elements of all three, Brooks says. It was rooted in sacred activism and spiritually inspired while its subject matter — people — is the focus of social intelligence. Bringing the three points into a community conversation is the culmination of a personal dream for Brooks.

“I’ve said I was going to do it for years,” she says of organizing an event in commemoration of King and his historic speech. “People want to talk about what it meant to their lives.”

While the three themes are designed to move the conversation forward, Brooks says she doesn’t want to define the conversation with those points. The idea is a free-form conversation without a set topic or objective.

As such, she doesn’t plan to “lead” the conversation so much as facilitate it. The dialogue will only be as good as those who come to contribute.

“My role is to keep it participatory,” she says. “It really is in the moment.”

Among those who plan to participate is St. George resident Caroll Shreeve. She says it’s a chance to honor what King brought to this country — a passion for what is right.

Shreeve says she is looking forward to re-examining her own feelings about what King did. She had the chance to see elements of the civil rights movement firsthand in the 1960s when she moved from Ohio to Georgia and was shocked to see elements of segregation, such as separate drinking fountains.

“I just felt like Martin Luther King was so courageous to confront all those very foolish ways in which we separate ourselves from one another,” Shreeve says. “I really admire when people can do whatever they can to erase those little lines we draw between one another.”

She still remembers hearing that King had been assassinated. She was rehearsing a play in Georgia with a mostly white cast and crew, but they were all stunned by the news.

Shreeve says she particularly admires King’s perseverance in asking people to be better than they had been in the past.

“I think Martin Luther King really gave us a moral compass,” she says. “I think it’s a good thing to remember the good things that he did because we still need them. I hope we can do a better job in living up to the standards that he set.”

Now she’s looking forward to hearing other opinions about King’s influence during Monday’s community conversation.

To help inspire conversation participants, Brooks plans to play a portion of King’s speech.

“This is a way of inspiring that dream within all of us,” Brooks says. “It’s a way to inspire your own soul dialogue.”

Brooks says Green Valley Spa is providing the space to the community free of charge. The conversation will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. in the conference room at the spa. Then at 6 p.m. there will be a Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela Candlelight Vigil and Memory Walk at the spa’s labyrinth. Green Valley Spa is at 1871 W. Canyon View Drive, St. George.